UPDATE: Commission rejects plan for Addison’s south side restaurant

UPDATE: The Columbia Planning and Zoning Commission recommended the city council deny a local restaurant’s plan to build in southwest Columbia.

The 4-3 vote came after an hour of testimony regarding Addison’s plan to build a slightly larger version of its downtown location at the corner of Vawter School Road and Frontgate Drive.

Some commissioners feared the impact the restaurant would have on nearby neighborhoods. The intersection is the entrance to the Copperstone neighborhood, which many residents of that area spoke against the plan Thursday night. Several said they had no problem with the company seeking to build, but thought the single entrance from Frontgate Drive would put them at risk of increased, and potentially unsafe, traffic.

“My concern is for the kids in our neighborhood, for the people who live in our neighborhood, who get out and walk daily,” resident David Dow said. “And by increasing traffic, and having it where you’re more or less inviting increased traffic, if we have this where it is right now.”

Many agreed that an entrance to the restaurant off of Vawter School Road would be a much better option. The road ends at the Scott Boulevard roundabout, and becomes Nifong Boulevard further east. Restaurant co-owner Matt Jenne told ABC 17 News that a driveway there would interfere with a 2-foot water main on the south side of Vawter School Road, and moving it would be too costly. He said he wanted to find a solution that also fit with what residents wanted.

“We’ve always said that the people that are in this neighborhood are our customers as well as our neighbors,” Jenne said. “We’re trying to work as hard as we can to make sure that they’re a part of the process as well as have their input.”

The Columbia City Council will still get to vote on the proposal.

ORIGINAL STORY: A downtown Columbia restaurant wants another location in the southwest part of town.

The owners of Addison’s are asking to re-zone land at the corner of Vawter School Road and Frontgate Drive, near Scott Boulevard. The current plan calls for a 6,800-square-foot facility with just more than 100 parking spots.

Addison’s co-owner Matt Jenne said the feel of Addison’s would work well in the growing part of the city. He said he wanted to get the business down there sooner rather than later, as growth continues around Scott Boulevard.

The restaurant would have just one entrance on Frontgate Drive. Jenne said a driveway onto the busier Vawter School Road, which becomes Nifong Boulevard further east, would have been cost-prohibitive because of a 2-foot water main that runs on that side of the street.

Residents in the Copperstone neighborhood brought up concerns of traffic coming through the area. City staff wrote to the commission asking that it allow a cut through the median island on Frontgate so customers could turn left towards Vawter School Road instead of having to drive through the neighborhood.